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Funny kind of a sermon! A Christian
perspective rather than A biblical exposition
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How important is this?
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•  
• Not hugely important...
• we cant all study this in depth
• Christians sometimes have to agree to disagree
  on issues of science faith
• there are more important things (like caring for
  Gods creation!)

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• ...but...
• God has given us enquiring minds
• the idea that science disproves God is a hot
  topic today
• we need to always be prepared to give an answer
  to everyone who asks us to give the reason for
  the hope that we have. (1 Peter 315)

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Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
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Small variations occur in living things which are
passed on from one generation to another. Some
variations will enable the organism to adapt to
its environment. These organisms will thrive and
become more common.
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Over time, accumulated variations will lead to
the development of new species. Humans have
evolved from more primitive species.
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• At the time, Darwins theory received a mixed
  reception
• many of the criticisms were on scientific
  grounds.
• some feared that it left no room for a wise and
  loving Creator.

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So, does this theorykill God?
Some people think so
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Ingersoll wrote near the end of the 19th
century- This century will be called Darwins
century...his doctrine of evolution, his doctrine
of the survival of the fittest, his doctrine of
the origin of species, has removed in every
thinking mind the last vestige of orthodox
Christianity.
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899), American
politician and agnostic
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Around the age of 16, I first understood that
Darwinism provides an explanation big enough and
elegant enough to replace gods. I have been an
atheist ever since.
Richard Dawkins (born 1941), British evolutionary
biologist
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The film Creation contains one of the most
robust defences of atheism and agnosticism ever
to appear in a mainstream film.
Ariane Sherine, TV comedy writer and journalist,
creator of the Atheist Bus Campaign (seen here
with Richard Dawkins)
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Does this theorykill God?
Darwin didnt think so
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The closing sentence of The Origin of Species
(2nd edition onwards)
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It seems to me absurd to doubt that a man may be
an ardent Theist an evolutionist. (Darwin,
in a letter to John Fordyce, May 7 1879)
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Science simply cannot (by its legitimate
methods) adjudicate the issue of Gods possible
superintendence of nature. We neither affirm nor
deny it we simply cant comment on it as
scientists. Commenting on the fact that 50 of
biologists are believers- Either half my
colleagues are enormously stupid, or else the
science of Darwinism is fully compatible with
conventional religious beliefs and equally
compatible with atheism.
Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), American
evolutionary biologist
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Scripture reveals religious truths about God,
that he created all things by his word, that his
creation was good, and that his creative
program culminated in man science suggests that
evolution may have been the mode which God
employed in creating.
John Stott (born 1921) Christian leader and
clergyman
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Let no man...think or maintain, that a man can
search too far or be too well studied in the book
of Gods word, or in the book of Gods
works... (Francis Bacon, 1605)
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Gods Two Books

• Give two different kinds of explanation of life
• One tells of the mechanisms of life and the other
  tells of the Maker of life
• Scripture tells us how to go to heaven, not how
  the heavens go (Galileo)

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Why is the kettle boiling?
Because, according to the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, thermal energy is transferred
from a warmer body to a cooler body...
Because I want a cup of tea
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And God said Let there be light, and there
was light.
(Maxwells equations for the electromagnetic
theory of light)
(Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 3)
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Psalm 104 What kind of literature is
this? Where is God here?
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?1? Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God,
you are very great you are clothed with
splendour and majesty. ?2? He wraps himself in
light as with a garment he stretches out the
heavens like a tent ?3? and lays the beams of
his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the
clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the
wind. ?4? He makes winds his messengers, flames
of fire his servants. ?5? He set the earth on
its foundations it can never be moved. ?6? You
covered it with the deep as with a garment the
waters stood above the mountains. ?7? But at
your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of
your thunder they took to flight ?8? they
flowed over the mountains, they went down into
the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.
?9? You set a boundary they cannot cross never
again will they cover the earth.
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?10? He makes springs pour water into the
ravines it flows between the mountains. ?11?
They give water to all the beasts of the field
the wild donkeys quench their thirst. ?12? The
birds of the air nest by the waters they sing
among the branches. ?13? He waters the mountains
from his upper chambers the earth is satisfied
by the fruit of his work. ?14? He makes grass
grow for the cattle, and plants for man to
cultivate bringing forth food from the earth
?15? wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil
to make his face shine, and bread that sustains
his heart. ?16? The trees of the LORD are well
watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
?17? There the birds make their nests the
stork has its home in the pine trees. ?18? The
high mountains belong to the wild goats the
crags are a refuge for the coneys. 
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?19? The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun
knows when to go down. ?20? You bring darkness,
it becomes night, and all the beasts of the
forest prowl. ?21? The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God. ?22? The sun
rises, and they steal away they return and lie
down in their dens. ?23? Then man goes out to
his work, to his labour until evening. ?24? How
many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made
them all the earth is full of your creatures.
?25? There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number living
things both large and small. ?26? There the
ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which
you formed to frolic there.
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?27? These all look to you to give them their
food at the proper time. ?28? When you give it
to them, they gather it up when you open your
hand, they are satisfied with good things. ?29?
When you hide your face, they are terrified
when you take away their breath, they die and
return to the dust. ?30? When you send your
Spirit, they are created, and you renew the
face of the earth. ?31? May the glory of the
LORD endure forever may the LORD rejoice in his
works ?32? he who looks at the earth, and it
trembles, who touches the mountains, and they
smoke.
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?33? I will sing to the LORD all my life I will
sing praise to my God as long as I live. ?34?
May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I
rejoice in the LORD. ?35? But may sinners vanish
from the earth and the wicked be no more.
Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD.
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Psalm 104 What kind of literature is
this? Where is God here? What is the purpose of
this psalm?
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What, then of Darwins Loss of Faith
I do not think that the religious sentiment was
ever strongly developed in me.
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What, then of Darwins Loss of Faith
His Christianity was never very Christian. He
had little interest in the incarnation, the
Cross, the empty tomb, in prayer, or the
sacraments.
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What, then of Darwins Loss of Faith
Disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but
was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I
felt no distress.
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What, then of Darwins Loss of Faith
His doubts were to do with the historical
accuracy of the Bible, the possibility of
miracles, the doctrine of everlasting punishment,
and the problem of suffering.
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The Problem of Suffering
Why Doesnt God Come And Do Something About It?
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